Some new stuff came out over the past week or so, including a new gameplay trailer:

I didn't watch the one with commentary yet, since I wanted to just have a look for myself, but the jump pack is a welcome addition I think, should make for more interesting combat which I think ME3 already perfected in terms of fluidity.

Another interesting note is that whether you pick the male or female Ryder, they both exist in the universe since they're brother and sister. Not sure how that's going to work in the story but it's different and could play out well.

I know a lot of people complain about the animations and voice acting but I'm pleasantly surprised with some of it, though a lot of the voice acting is sub-par, like basically any ME game. I'm liking Ryder more than Shepard and find him/her (I'm playing as a her this time around) more relatable and human, so that's a plus.

So far I'm at about Chapter 4, according to my saves, and am enjoying it. I'm not a huge fan of the fact that the story kind of seems like a mix of ME1 and Halo (Remnant = Forerunners as far as I can tell), but I'll see how it plays out in the end. The multiplayer is as fun as ever, and I like that the matches have been shortened since ME3 to 7 waves instead of 10.

Agree with pretty much everything you are saying. I do like that they kind of got back to ME1 in that it is more conversation driven than just combat scene after combat scene after combat scene, though.

As of last night the stats on my save file said 35 hours played and 29% through the game; either I'm really slow or this is just a gigantic game. I haven't played any multiplayer since the pre-load, but I really enjoyed it - looking forward to getting back to it once I (finally) get through my single-player run.

And +1 on the GTX 1080, I grabbed one for release as well. I understand the facial graphics complaints, but they just don't bother me too much. The landscapes and scenescapes in this game are unreal, though.

Several hours in and while it is buggy it feels a bit more like Mass Effect the further I get into it.

My frustrations with modern gaming culture aside, mostly it makes me wish they would just remaster the original trilogy already. I don't by any means expect them to, but I'd snatch them up in a heartbeat if they did.

So sick of every review of Andromeda taking time to whine about the ME3 ending not being fanservice "everyone lived happily ever after here is the scene of Wrex getting married to Jack" or whatever they all wanted. I thought it was great. Would I have liked more of Miranda? Of course!

I still haven't bought this. I find the videos of animations hilarious, though. I am especially perplexed by why the run animations seem directly carried over from the previous two games. Ah well. I'll buy it someday and probably like it. It sounds like all the conversations are really stilted and lifeless compared to the previous few games, though.

I played all the way through the single player stuff, and have since been grinding the multiplayer. The former was rad. The latter is fine, and an improvement, overall, but I do regret that the same randomized reward/unlock system was carried-over from ME3.

I think the voice acting (for primary cast) was a step up, but also realize that's an entirely subjective thing. Still something to be desired for voice acting in most of the meaningless/side-quest stuff, but that's how it always goes, I guess.

Sidebar: I do wish games, in general, would ditch side quests. ME, generally --including ME:A -- has strong enough characters and story that the haphazardly developed side quests serve no purpose other than to pad the game length. Rather than boost the 'immersive' qualities as one may argue they intend, they seem to result in having the opposite effect. While I understand they give our characters more experience points, I argue that those points could be weaved into primary-story missions; whether by way of more points-per-mission, or by way of more missions.

Anyway, I enjoyed it. My only major complaint is that it's perhaps too recycled. Without being too spoilery, it feels to me like every major story point in ME:A is an analog to every major story point of the original trilogy. In that way, it's like one of those movies that are 'based on true events, but the names and likenesses have been changed'.

Which I don't mean to imply that ME:A is only an imitation. Rather, I'd suggest it's a refinement, though perhaps only a slight one.

I feel like I have the opposite experience, but it depends entirely on the game. I think Mass Effect is a game that can benefit from side quests if they're done well. And by done well, I mean that they should be pointed and rewarding. I'm not a fan of side-quests in something like the Batman Archam-whatever games cause you can tell you're just running through fetch-quest-#371 and you've all you've accomplished is a checklist of "yup I did this stuff". But I do think there's benefit to having them in 'immersive sim' style games - stuff like Thief, Dishonored, Deus Ex, etc. (so I guess mostly stealth-ish games?) - because the world building is a huge element of those games. I don't remember the side quests in Mass Effect being as well implemented as those other games though.

Side Quests are great when they add to the overall story. But I'll agree, there have been way too many games as of late that have an overload of side quests for the sake of having an overload of side quests.

I think we're in agreement. I was attempting to suggest that if something contributes to the story in any meaningful way, however slight, then that's not really a 'side quest'. I might not have expressed myself clearly, but what I basically meant was all the "fetch-quest-#371" stuff. Not to suggest that ME:A is chock full of them by any means; just to suggest that gaming, generally, from A(ssassin's Creed) to Z(elda), has been suffering from them.

I am especially perplexed by why the run animations seem directly carried over from the previous two games.

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Funny that you say that. I've noticed that most if not all major developers recycle/reuse animations across multiple titles, if not franchises. Shadow of Mordor used the some fighting system as the Arkham Games (both published by WB), the Assassin's Creed series used the same animations from the Prince of Persia games (both published by Ubisoft), Fallout 4 had the same run/duck/sneak animations as Skyrim (both developed by Bethesda). It just seems to be the nature of the industry. You could argue it's lazy but I'd also argue it saves timw/money during development and is probably a result of using the same engine for multiple titles.

So sick of every review of Andromeda taking time to whine about the ME3 ending not being fanservice "everyone lived happily ever after here is the scene of Wrex getting married to Jack" or whatever they all wanted. I thought it was great. Would I have liked more of Miranda? Of course!

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I absolutely didn't want a Disney ending. But I love how any complaint about the objectively awful ending gets turned into that strawman.

After 100 hours of gameplay, all my choices were rendered meaningless and I was given the option of red, blue, or green. .... that. .... that little deus ex machina kid and the bull.... explanation I was given.

I wanted to see indoctrination. You know, the entire underlying theme of the entire series. I wanted to see Shepard ruined. I wanted to see perfect Shepard irreparably destroyed by indoctrination and play right into the Reaper's hands, and I wanted to see his squadmates - who he spent 100 hours recruiting and friending and romancing - dragging his irreparably destroyed ass over the finish line to sacrifice everything and save all of Milky-Way-kind.

No blue babies, no romance living happily ever after, no reapers being flower girls at Shepard and Miranda's wedding - .... all that noise. Mass Effect was about (1) putting together a squad that will do anything for each other, (2) making decisions, and (3) indoctrination. The ending poo pooed all over those things. That was why it was terrible.

I bought it, traded it, then got a used copy again for cheap. Reaaallllly debating if it want to keep it on the backlogged (where its probably a good 4 games down the list) or just trading it in again for something like Prey or Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age, since I have a feeling Andromeda is going to go down in price sooner than later....

I liked Inquisition, though I never beat it. Computer needed reformatting before I finished it and didn't feel like starting over. May give it a go again. As I recall, it was MUCH better than 2, which was a bit of a let down. Perhaps I can reinstall it to distract myself from the crack that is Overwatch, which still has its claws in me.

I was fine with the ME ending as well, so I guess that means it wasn't "objectively" aweful as suggested. The reaper story only had one of three endings, but you built a unique world depending on your choices. Yeah the reapers got dealt with in one of three ways, but not everyone saved the rachni, or fixed the genophage... Not everyone killed off the same characters or races, and that means a .... of a lot to those of us with an imagination. The world I created with my decisions is different from most others. Just because I didn't have a cutscene shove it in my face doesn't mean it didn't happen. So... Yeah.